Sneak-Peek-Sunday: Alcohol at Be Our Guest Restaurant

In the Magic Kingdom’s forty-one years of operation, like it’s sister park Disneyland, the park has never served an ounce of alcohol. Due to the very family friendly nature of the park, it stands a testament as a place welcome more to children than adults. If you want to be precise, Club 33 at Disneyland does serve alcohol, but not to the public since the restaurant itself isn’t open to the public, and there have been private parties at both the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland that have served alchol, but again, they were not open to the public. So it comes with much surprise that Disney has announced that it’s brand new Be Our Guest Restaurant, part of the new Fantasyland project at the Magic Kingdom, will have a wine and beer list.

After forty-one years of being an alcohol free park. Why the change? After a Be Our Guest Restaurant media event and tasting this past week, Beverage Director of Disney Parks, Stuart McGuire, shared that this was all part of the storytelling. Beauty and the Beast is set in France and the cuisine served in the Be Our Guest Restaurant would reflect that backstory, including one of France’s biggest exports, wine. Many of the wines on the menu are listed from France, while a few American wines snuck on to the menu as well. The beer listing is rather short. Kronenburg 1664, being France’s biggest beer, is listed along with two other Belgian beers.

Before passing judgement, let me clarify that the alcohol listings will only be served at dinner which is a sit down meal only. That means that no alcohol will leave the restaurant, keeping the rest of the Magic Kingdom park alcohol free still. Seemingly, the park won’t be a place you can always get an adult drink everywhere you go, at least not in the near future. Does this open up the idea of serving alcohol at other places in the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, absolutely.

Tony’s Town Square is a pasta joint seeping with great Italian dishes. Could that be a possible spot to bring a wine menu? What about the Blue Bayou over at Disneyland? It’s southern hospitality opens it up for some classic whiskey or gin cocktails. These are all possibilities in the future. Will it become reality? Less than likely, but never say never in the world of Disney.

There are no doubt, going to be strong opinions on the matter. What are yours? Are you okay with the addition of alcohol or not? If so, where else would you like to see a menu pop up? Leave your comments below.

I recently joked about alcohol being served at Gaston’s Tavern on an episode of Wedway Now (which you can find at http://www.wedwayradio.com) and I can’t believe that it is happening just right next door at the restaurant. If you want to hear more on this topic, stay tuned for the next Modern Mouse Radio, coming up this Friday, where Keith Lapinig, my co-host, and I discuss some of our opinions on the matter as well as several other news topics coming out of the Disney World.